


sa iyong pagtingala

by arsenouselation



Category: Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (2018), Heneral Luna (2015)
Genre: Family, Gen, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26771488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arsenouselation/pseuds/arsenouselation
Summary: Julian and Vicente, mirror pieces of each other, doused in loss of a(nother) brother.
Relationships: Gregorio del Pilar & Julian Sempio Hilario del Pilar, Vicente Enriquez & Julian Sempio Hilario del Pilar
Kudos: 2





	sa iyong pagtingala

**Author's Note:**

> So, I got a chance to revisit an old page in my writing onenote and found this.

_sa iyong pagtingala_  
  
[julian & vicente, surviving the death of a(nother) brother]

* * *

When Vicente comes home to Bulacan, Julian needs only to look at his face to know.

The gold of the afternoon sun filters through the acacia trees in front of the del Pilar home. Grief is not new to Vicente and yet, it lines his face like freshly plowed land. He hands Julian a box, in lieu of a coffin.

_Ito lang ang nahanap ko para iuwi,_ he says.

Julian opens the box and finds a straw hat, some letters. A ring. An errant button from one of Goyo’s uniforms… Guilt blooms deep in his stomach. For he can imagine Vicente digging through the crevices of Dagupan for belongings that Goyo must have left behind. The image is only vivid because he has seen Vicente do it once in San Rafael; wading through the bodies, the blood ankle-deep, looking for Anacleto.

The apology curdles in his mouth. Julian embraces him tightly instead; for he cannot do much else, still new to this brand of grief.

  
From inside the house, he hears the first gasp of pain. Then the terrible ringing of his sisters’ cries, rising in the quiet. After a history of sacrifice, the del Pilar family has learned how to read absence well.

Julian turns his eyes skywards. He holds unto both of his brothers, one in each arm. One still living and unraveling against him, the other through ephemera in a box.


End file.
